I AM VERY ANGRY.

I TELL THE MCD STAFF I DON'T WANT ICE IN MY SPRITE ALREADY, THEN THEY STILL GIVE ME ICE. LOTS OF IT.

GRR.

Nightfall – Chapter 5.

The vampire felt his hands trembling as he staggered to the lab. He had chosen to do it in the dead of the night, where no one would discover him. His head spinning, he fumbled with the medicine cupboard in the dark and successfully retrieved the heroin the medics had carefully hidden. He was aware that the medics chose to hide the heroin in the lab instead of the hospital.

After all, he knew the lab like the back of his hand.

Desperately searching for a syringe, he knocked over a few bottles. Screw those, he thought. The vampire filled the syringe with heroin and clumsily tunnelled the needle into his vein.

He eased as he felt his head getting lighter and his muscles relaxing. He could barely feel the pain from his carefully stitched up stomach wound, neither could he feel the sore spot where the needle had ruthlessly punctured. He enjoyed this feeling immensely, although he wasn’t sure why he needed it so much.

He promised himself he wouldn’t get hooked.

--

Evelyn spotted her teammate’s silhouette as she approached the balcony of Team 3’s room. Smiling, she took her water bottle and settled herself next to the vampire.

“Hey.”

“Hey. Couldn’t sleep either?” Larry smiled. He moved a little to allow Evelyn some space and gazed at the moon.

“What’s troubling you?” The human asked tentatively before taking a gulp from her bottle.

Her friend kept silent.

The woman grinned. “Is it over the new member? You don’t have to worry so much, you know.” Evelyn giggled. “I’m sure you’ll accept her in no time.”

“I’ve already accepted her.” His reply came swift, laced with a hint of impatience. “It’s just over... something personal.”

Evelyn laughed softly so as not to wake Carson from his slumber. He could get very cranky if he was rudely awoken. She didn’t notice her teammate staring at her as if in a trance.

“Is it girl trouble?”

Larry blushed instantly. He quickly averted his eyes to stare at his clawed fingers.

“Tell me. Maybe I can help you.” Evelyn grinned at her friend. “So, who is she?”

The man slowly rose his eyes to lock with hers. Evelyn waited patiently, still grinning; she had expected him to tell her immediately. It suddenly dawned on Evelyn why Larry was staring at her like that. Her grin faded slowly until it was gone and the two hunters were left staring at each other in complete silence.

She gulped before taking another swig from her bottle, stalling for time while she thought of a reply. Wracking her brain for what she actually wanted to say to break the awkward silence, she swallowed hard and muttered, “Gosh.” She mentally beat herself up for it.

“I know... I’m sorry. It’s just that—these things can’t be controlled, you know?” Larry laughed nervously before running a hand through his hair. “Do you want to sleep now?”

“No! I mean, yes. Yeah, I’m just going to go—sleep.”

The vampire watched the woman exit the balcony wordlessly. He turned to face the sky once more and buried his face in his hands.

“Damn it.”

--

The night saw a very angry medic clutching a letter in fury, her strong hold threatening to tear the paper with her fingernails alone. She blew her fringe off her forehead and forced herself to calm down.

Her teammate sat up in her bed, groggy from sleep. “Wuhn yo ‘seep yet?”

Su Hui slammed the paper on her desk and stood up from her chair hastily. She turned to Valerie and hissed, “My mother sent me a letter.” Balling her fists, she closed her eyes and shuddered in rage.

“Oh. What did she say?” The half-vampire was immediately awake. Valerie swung her legs over the side of her own bed and hushed her friend. “Xia Yu’s still sleeping.” She nodded absently to the bed across the room.

“She’s making things worse.” Su Hui snarled. “She’s trying to make me feel worthless again. It’s not like I don’t have a proper job, right? At least I’m helping people, unlike my sister, who just needs to suck up to the woman who calls herself my mother.” She spat, voice dripping with hate. Valerie noticed blood trickling from her clenched fists and noted that Su Hui had broken skin.

The human breathed out shakily and stomped over to the desk where the letter lay. She snatched the paper up and crumpled it up with her bleeding hand. Tossing it carelessly into the dustbin, she stalked towards the shared bathroom in Team 1’s room and washed her hands, ignoring the sting of her palms.

When she came out, Valerie immediately offered her a hug. “Thanks, but it still hurts.” She muttered bitterly before noticing something out the corner of her eye.

“Where’s Xia Yu?”

--

Joyce couldn’t believe her eyes.

She didn’t mean to stumble into the lab. All she wanted was to go to the bathroom.

She approached the shivering figure in the lab carefully, not knowing if it would suddenly lash out and attack her. Just to be safe, she forced yellow into her eyes and her canines lengthened. Joyce tentatively reached out a clawed hand and turned the figure’s head to face her. Her eyes widened.

“Xia Yu?”

The man whimpered and coughed violently. Joyce shuddered and attempted to help him up before noting the empty syringe beside his foot. Her eyes travelled to the open bottle of heroin on the table beside the medicine cabinet.

“Shit.”

The woman leapt to her feet and flew out of the room down the corridor, banging on every door in the way and screaming at the top of her lungs. She let her legs carry her until she reached the researchers’ room. Slamming on the door until a sleepy Chun Zi poked her head out from behind the door, she wheezed, “Xia Yu. Heroin. Lab.”

That was all the researcher needed to hear.

--

“What the hell were you thinking?” Chun Zi snapped angrily. Around her, See Min observed Xia Yu’s progress and Su Hui dabbed a warm wet towel on his forehead. Xia Yu coughed again before breaking out in cold sweat.

“I don’t know. I just needed it so bad.” He averted his eyes and focused on the ceiling.

“You know,” See Min cleared her throat. “Let’s just forget about the Zhuang Ying incident. This isn’t the time to be in the middle of a fight, not with one of our hunters in that state.” She nodded towards the still vampire on the bed.

Shu Xian looked at the floor before raising her eyes. “Yeah, I suppose.” She let a smile grace her features momentarily.

Carson scratched his head and sighed. “What do we do with him? He can’t fight in this state.” Evelyn nodded sadly before catching Larry’s eye and looking away hastily. Larry just stared sadly at the floor.

Chun Zi ignored the discussion around her and looked at Xia Yu. She felt a lump rising in her throat and did her best to control her emotions. Angrily brushing tears from her eyes, she stormed out of the room, leaving the hunters wondering what had happened to her.

--

The stoic woman stared blankly at her fellow researcher’s back, watching her sob her heart out. Checking her watch, she noted that Chun Zi had been crying for half an hour straight. She silently approached the sobbing human and gave her a hug.

“You know, crying for the whole night isn’t going to make things any better.”

Chun Zi sniffled. “I know. I usually don’t cry. But when I saw him lying there, I couldn’t--” She broke into another sob.

“This question is inevitable, but who are you going to send on the next mission?” Shu Xian sighed and pushed her hair from her face. “Team 2 or Team 3?”

Chun Zi paused. “Team 3.”

--

Carson was disturbed. Very disturbed.

He was disturbed as to why his usually noisy teammates weren’t speaking to each other.

No, scratch that, they weren’t even looking at each other.

He sighed and spun around, looking at Evelyn and Larry who were keeping a distance of at least five feet from each other. He lazily raised an eyebrow at Larry and approached him to whisper something in his ear. A look of shock flashed across Larry’s face before Carson stepped back and pointed a gun at his head. He pulled the trigger and watched his teammate fall to the ground.

Evelyn gasped audibly. Running to Carson, she grabbed his collar and hissed in his face, “What did you do that for?” She could feel tears welling up in her eyes and turned her face away so her teammate wouldn’t see them.

She suddenly noticed Larry wasn’t bleeding ash. “You’re not injured at all, are you?” She snapped and Carson was stricken for a moment before nudging Larry to stop the pretence.

“Damn the two of you!” The woman harshly let go of Carson and reached for her Desert Eagle, watching Larry get up hastily. “Start running, assholes, because I feel like target practice!”

--

“I have a bad feeling.”

“What?” Shu Hui stared at her teammate. She wiped her Glock absentmindedly as the door opened and Shi Chun sat down next to Team 2.

“What are you talking about?”

“Melissa’s got a bad feeling.” Joyce announced. “What is it about?”

The woman furrowed her brow. “I don’t know. I just feel like someone’s going to die, or leave us.”

Shi Chun nodded. “I got that feeling too.” She twirled her hair around her finger. “I wonder if anything’s going to happen to Team 3.”

“Just wondering, if we’re hunting pure vampires,” Joyce piped up. “Pure vampires only drink blood, right? Tainted vampires eat like normal humans?”

“You’re a tainted vampire yourself, you should know.” Shi Chun drawled before it dawned upon the four women.

“They’ll be fine. They’re best in stealth, right?” Shu Hui laughed nervously. “They won’t die. Nothing’s going to happen.” Even the most optimistic one among them was starting to doubt her words.

Melissa tried to ignore the rising dread in her throat as she watched the skies darken outside their window.

--

Carson moved swiftly in the shadows behind his teammates, glancing behind his shoulder every now and then to check for approaching vampires. He grimaced as he rubbed the back of his head where Evelyn had whacked him earlier. With her Desert Eagle, no less.

He blinked as his teammates both leapt out of the shadows and fired around them. The pure vampires scattered into ash and fell lightly around the duo, like snow.

He grinned. “You two have chemistry.”

“Don’t think too much. The vampires were approaching so we had to attack.” Evelyn said huffily. Larry looked a little hurt at her comment and merely scanned the surroundings for more vampires.

Carson joined them and grinned even wider. He had seen this coming for a while. It was pretty obvious Larry had a thing for Evelyn, however Evelyn did a pretty good job of hiding her feelings.

He slowly withdrew his Beretta 92 from its holster and filled the magazine. A cold breeze blew past them and he shuddered.

Evelyn gasped.

The tanned human felt a cold grip on his shoulders. It was icy-cold, and it reeked of trouble. He tried to force the hands off but they held him in a death-grip. Carson spat, “What do you want?” He flinched as he heard hissing from behind him and a sudden cold breeze on his neck. He realised in horror that the vampire behind him wanted blood.

Damn it! Think!

Before he could ram his elbow in his captor’s stomach, the pure vampire hungrily clamped her mouth on his neck, fangs puncturing the skin and sucking greedily on the pulse. He felt his head getting lighter and his neck getting uncomfortably warm. Turning his eyes to his teammates, he mildly noticed that both of them were also held captive by his captor’s accomplices. Evelyn had her head forced back and her neck was exposed to the pure vampire behind her. She snarled viciously and kicked her captor’s shin angrily, causing the pure vampire to relinquish his hold on her. She proceeded to kick him in the gut and shoot him in cold blood.

Carson tried to wriggle himself free from his attacker’s grasp, but the blood loss was getting to him. Once the pure vampire had enough of feeding, she bit another wound in his neck, making his eyes glaze over and yellow creep into them. He felt an odd sensation in his mouth, like his canines were getting longer. Carson thought it was weird, since he wasn’t a vampire, but he couldn’t care about that right now.

His captor pushed him away and the turned human fell forward, knowing his hunter life would never return once he was bitten.

--End of Chapter 5--

*runs for the hills*

The Challenge - Shi Chun's request "Valerie gaying with an umbrella/hippo"

Characters: Evelyn, Su Hui, Shi Chun, Valerie.

Setting: Su Hui's house.

Warning: Does not make sense.

------------------------

The slim girl stretched herself as she watched the laptop screen carefully, her homework forgotten on the black leather couch. She giggled as the male lead in the drama got caught in an awkward situation with the female lead.

"Wow, Evelyn's totally not doing her homework." Su Hui murmured to the petite raven beside her. Valerie merely shrugged as she explored Su Hui's dining table, pausing to squeal in delight every time she found two bananas together. She got up and approached the kitchen, her own homework lying forgotten on the table.

Su Hui shook her head and glanced at Shi Chun, who was busy burying her head in math sums. She grinned. It was so like the genius in their group to make full use of their mugging session. Their mugging session currently consisted of watching dramas, getting distracted by the internet and looking for innuendos around her house.

"Oi, Val, do your work." Shi Chun called from behind her mountain of books. She pushed her fringe out of her eyes and switched to another song on her iPod. Beside her, Su Hui yanked a earphone out of the genius's ear and stuck it in her own.

Valerie sulked. "I'll do it. I'll do it right now." She paused before grabbing two fridge magnets from Su Hui's fridge and joining her friends at the table. She happily gestured to the innocent fridge magnets, "See these two? This hippo tops the zebra! It's yaoi! Butt-action!" Squealing, she arranged the magnets on the table into a very compromising position.

Su Hui and Shi Chun stared at the magnets in wonder and shared a pointed look. Trust the perverted girl to come up with innuendos even from a pair of fridge magnets. Su Hui snatched the magnets away and rushed to the fridge to arrange them in their non-sexual positions.

"Do your work. Now." She snapped at Valerie and pointed to her math worksheet on the table. Valerie sulked even more and picked up Shi Chun's iPod. She carelessly traced a circle on the buttons and got a fright when her two friends yelped and pulled the earphones out of their ears.

"What did I do?"

"You turned the volume up!" Shi Chun groaned as she resumed the normal volume of her iPod. "It's touch-sensitive. There aren't any buttons."

"Oh my god, I'm sorry." Valerie wailed. She leapt up from her chair and explored Su Hui's balcony and discovered an umbrella. She grabbed it in ecstasy before returning to her friends.

"I'm going to hump an umbrella!"

"What?" Her friends stared at her as if she had just proclaimed her undying love for Fahrenheit, a hated boy band in their group. Without further probing, Shi Chun took out her hand phone and switched on the video function.

Valerie grinned and pole-danced with the umbrella, pausing to make a few weird noises here and there. Su Hui muffled her giggles and joined Shi Chun in the videoing. Valerie proceeded to 'link arms' with the umbrella and proudly announced to her friends not to disturb the two of them before gallantly sweeping the umbrella into the bathroom.

From the bathroom, Shi Chun and Su Hui could hear cries of pleasure, presumably from the umbrella. They waited for a while before the slightly insane raven appeared from the bathroom, hair ruffled and grinning goofily. She proudly strutted to face the cameras and proclaimed that she was going shopping with her new lover. Valerie walked a few steps before turning back to face the camera. She winked and clicked her tongue, stage-whispering conspirationally.

"She's hot!"

Shi Chun and Su Hui burst into laughter, switching off their video functions and swearing that they would post it up on YouTube. Valerie wailed in protest and Evelyn got up from in front of her laptop. She looked at the commotion within her three friends and blinked.

"What did I miss?"

----------------

Next up: Nightfall chap 5. Then Evelyn's request.

The Challenge.

Ok, I know some of you read Nightfall (DON'T DENY IT.) and I wanna give you a nice big hug for it :D But internet hugs aren't much, so I have decided.

Each of you can give me a theme to write about, be it Hurricane, or Rain, and Knight or any word that pops into your mind. I will write a oneshot based on the theme you gave me. You can even give me scenarios. I love awkward scenarios.

Yes, if you want, I can write R-rated content.

But you have to give me some characters or people to base the story on. I will do some research on the characters (fictional or real) and write you a story :D

For example, you want me to write a oneshot based on Setsuna (<3333) and Konoka as a couple or as friends or anything you want. You will give me a theme, let's say, Angel. I will think of a setting for that story and write it and post it right here.

Ok that's all. Let the requests begin.

I apologize for the lack of Nightfall updates ): My brain is being extremely lazy recently.

But I will update quite soon, I promise :D

Meaning of "Valerie"
English name In English, the name Valerie means- Strong; valiant. Feminine of the Roman family clan name Valerius. Other origins for the name Valerie include - English, French, French.The name Valerie is most often used as a girl name or female name.



Meaning of "Valerie"
French name In French, the name Valerie means- fierce one. Other origins for the name Valerie include - French, English.The name Valerie is most often used as a girl name or female name.

I've been down that path 2 years ago.

2 years ago I promised myself I'd stay away.

I just never thought that 2 years later, I'd walk down the same path.

HEY YOU. LOOK HERE.

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Go there and help my friend, Seemin! :D It's a newly hatched blogshop, MUST BUY FROM HER OK.

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YOU KNOW YOU WANNA.

Nightfall – Chapter 4.

“You’re going to replace her?”

“Yes.” Shu Xian stated calmly as she punched in a number on her hand phone. “The new member will arrive today.”

“Well, who can you replace her with?” Valerie scrunched up her nose. She looked at the ceiling before shifting her gaze to the researcher again. “Some ex-classmate? Or am I going to have to go out and search for amateurs again?”

“You’ll see in about four hours. I’ll send Shu Hui and Larry to greet her.”

Valerie choked on her fruit tea. Coughing violently, she stared at Shu Xian.

“Greet her!? Who is she? The Queen?”

Shu Xian made a face, a rare occurrence. “No, but her wealth is pretty close.”

--

“You did not just say that.”

Evelyn nodded earnestly. “Zhuang Ying’s going to be replaced.”

“By who?” See Min groaned. “I hope it’s not someone we don’t know. I mean, it’s like a stranger trying to be friends, you know?”

“Yeah. I get what you mean. Anyway, Shu Hui’s supposed to go greet her in four hours, along with Larry.”

See Min laughed. She got up from the sofa and headed for the door.

“See ya. I have to tell Shu Hui that.”

--

Su Hui cursed silently as she held on to her seat. Beside her, Valerie was ready to throw up. The half-vampire was hunched over, holding a paper bag and muttering, “I’m not sick. I’m not sick.” Over and over.

Xia Yu, being the race devil he was, was driving again. Happily, he stepped harder on the accelerator and sped the Toyota down an alley.

Valerie hurled.

“For God’s sake, Xia Yu, can’t you drive normally?” Su Hui snapped as she patted Valerie’s back. She checked her watch and sighed.

“Give me a good reason to.”

“Your teammate’s puking.”

Valerie retched. The car came to a screeching halt. Xia Yu turned around and furrowed his brow.

“She pukes that easily?”

Su Hui didn’t reply and just exited the car, helping the half-vampire out. She silently shifted her dark gaze to a dimly lit shop-house down the alley and filled her Glock.

--

“So who exactly is this new member are we waiting for?” Larry asked nervously.

“Supposedly Shu Xian’s rich-as-hell cousin, but I don’t know.” Shu Hui grumbled. “She or he could be some stuck-up ass for all we know.” She crossed her arms irritably.

Shortly after, a slick red Ferrari pulled up at the headquarters’ steps. Shu Hui’s eyes bugged out of her head and she gave a low whistle. The car door opened and a petite raven with a short bob stepped out.

She wore killer boots on her feet and a pair of Givenchy pants. A cropped Chanel jacket covered her top which had “DKNY” proudly emblazoned on it. A pair of Ray-Bans covered half her face and her lips wore a flicker of a smile.

“Think of all the expensive clothing she’s going to ruin if she becomes a hunter,” Larry mumbled.

The raven lowered her shades and inspected the two people in front of her. She grinned.

“Shu Hui and Larry, am I correct?”

“Yeah. How’d you know us?”

“Shu Xian talks about you in our phone calls. I was called here to replace a dead hunter right? My name is Joyce.” The raven smiled wider and offered her hand.

Shu Hui shook it apprehensively, taking in the smell of Joyce’s manicure. Larry just looked on in bewilderment.

“Are you human?”

Joyce flinched. Turning to Larry with an icy stare, she snapped, “Does that question bother you?”

Larry threw back a glare. “Not really, you look vampire to me.”

Joyce’s canines lengthened. Her eyes turned yellow and she snarled.

“Pixie? Is that you?”

The new member froze in her place. Her usually calm face had a look of pure terror written all over it.

“It’s really you!” See Min hurried to the raven and crushed her in a huge hug. “It’s been so long! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

Joyce screamed in protest, “My name is not fucking Pixie! It’s Joyce, get it? J-O-Y-C-E! Joyce!” Her cries were ignored as Shu Xian joined in the group hug.

“So the new member’s name is...” Larry hazarded. “Pixie?”

Shu Hui burst into hysterics.

--

Chun Zi studied the petite raven in front of her with great interest.

“How are you going to fight in those clothes?”

Joyce shrugged. Gesturing to her luggage, she explained, “I brought clothes. Isn’t that enough?”

“Your clothes are going to be ruined if you become a hunter. You really should have brought less expensive clothes. Just ask Evelyn.”

Evelyn sulked in protest as she mourned the loss of her branded clothes.

“I can always buy new ones.”

“It’s not worth it.” Carson drawled. He threw Joyce a black ankle-length cloak and grinned. “It’ll protect your clothes that way. Anyway, you wanna take the test first or get the tattoo first?”

“Test first,” Joyce made a face. “I’d rather the painful part come later.”

--

Team 1 quietly exited the shop-house, taking extra care not to step on any ashes they had left behind. Su Hui replaced her Glock in its holster underneath her shirt while Valerie braced herself for another round of Xia Yu’s violent driving.

A dagger flew towards Xia Yu’s stomach, stabbing the flesh right on target. The vampire howled and doubled over in pain, ash bleeding from the wound.

“God damn you! If I ever find you, I’m going to bloody cut your fucking balls off and-” Valerie slammed a hand over his mouth and rolled her eyes.

Su Hui cracked her knuckles and approached the source of the dagger. She found an amateur vampire who attempted to knock her out. Smirking, she delivered a solid punch to his gut and watched impassively as he fell to the ground. Letting a hidden knife slide out from her coat arm, she ruthlessly stabbed the amateur in the neck, shattering him into ash.

“They get stupider and slower every time.” She grumbled as she dusted her hands off, returning to her teammates.

Her eyes widened.

Xia Yu had stopped complaining about the pain and was moaning incoherently. Valerie stared at his gaping wound in horror. Ash was replacing skin freely and Xia Yu was turning greyer by the second. At this rate, he would shatter into ash and die way before they reached the headquarters.

Su Hui gulped. She had to do this. She hadn’t brought any alcohol at all but she still had to take the risk.

Hurrying to the car, she extracted her medic’s kit and some heroin. She filled a syringe with the drug and wiped the vampire’s arm tentatively. She handed some surgical thread, a needle and antiseptic to Valerie wordlessly. The half-vampire nodded before cleaning the wound as she watched Su Hui empty the syringe’s contents into Xia Yu’s arm.

Xia Yu felt the liquid surge up his arm and tried to protest but his wound stopped hurting. He felt his mouth becoming dry and his skin heating up. The vampire felt extremely relaxed and comfortable, almost too relaxed if he was alert.

The rest of Team 1 could only pray that Xia Yu wouldn’t get addicted.

--

The raven dragged her nails across the other vampire’s hand and hissed. Larry held her arms in a death-grip and clenched them, sharp nails digging into the flesh. Joyce swore as she kicked her opponent’s head, sending him to the ground. He got up and managed to get a few hits on her face before stopping to catch his breath.

Larry cussed in silence as he tried to focus his vision. It didn’t help. His head throbbed and he refrained himself from throwing up ash.

Joyce, on the other hand, wasn’t much better off. Her face housed a few scratches and bruises while her limbs bled ash. She could barely stop herself from fainting out of exhaustion.

Shi Chun hurriedly stopped the test and nodded her approval.

“You’re in.”

--

That exact same moment, an experienced pure vampire placed some ash into a test tube. She poured the ash into a container of a huge resurrection machine and typed some controls. Kiran strolled to the large glass cylinder connected to the machine and waited in patience.

A slender brunette slowly formed in the cylinder. Her blank eyes stared at her captor and her lips parted to protest. A syringe dug into her skin and injected some pure vampiric genes. The brunette’s eyes slowly recognised the vampire before her.

“Why, hello, old friend.” Kiran smirked. “Nice to see you again, Zhuang Ying.”

--End of Chapter 4—

I TOLD YOU ALL IT'LL BE VERY SHORT. DON'T COME AFTER ME.

So Contagious - Acceptance

Oh no, this couldn't be more unexpected
And I can tell I've been moving in so slow
Don't let it throw you off too far
Cause I'll be running right behind you

Could this be out of line? (Could this be out of line?)
To say you're the only one breaking me down like this
You're the only one I would take a shot on
Keep me hanging on so contagiously

Oohhh, when I'm around you I'm predictable
Cause I believe in loving you at first sight
I know it's crazy but I'm hoping to..
To take a hold of you

Could this be out of line? (Could this be out of line?)
To say you're the only one breaking me down like this
You're the only one I would take a shot on
Keep me hanging on so contagiously

Oh you're everything I'm wanting
Come to think of it, I'm aching
On account of my transgression..
Will you welcome this confession?

Could this be out of line? (Could this be out of line?)
To say you're the only one breaking me down like this
You're the only one I would take a shot on
Keep me hanging on so contagiously

Could this be out of line? (Could this be out of line?)
To say you're the only one breaking me down like this
You're the only one I would take a shot on
Keep me hanging on so contagiously

---

I think this song is bloody nice. Go listen to it in my profile panel! :D

I'm rewriting and rewriting Chapter 4 because I think it's not good enough and good lord, it's too short ):

I think I'm just going to give up and post a short chapter.

Soon.

|ULAMSS5™| -            ρѕισпιс|ωαяяισяѕ                 says:
*k
*can i paint your toenails someday?
so bring on the rain. says:
*DOOD?

I fear for him.

Tell me where to start, tell me something I don't know.

--

I think I'm going through the stage where authors begin to question their worth and their work ):

Nightfall – Chapter 3.

Melissa stepped out of the grey Ford and ensured her Beretta 92 was well hidden beneath her shirt. Behind her, Zhuang Ying turned off the ignition and Shu Hui filled her Glock’s magazine.

“You know, I still think you two shouldn’t return to fighting right after Su Hui deemed you fit to fight again.”

“Who cares? We have a mission. Our health can come later.” Shu Hui grinned.

Zhuang Ying ignored her two teammates and zeroed in on the relatively big building. With steady footsteps she entered through the huge glass doors. Melissa and Shu Hui followed after.

The effect was instantaneous.

A sense of dread hung in the air. Dim lights added to the eeriness of the room. Even though classy furniture filled the room, just by being there, Zhuang Ying could feel Death staring down on her. In one corner stood two pure vampires. One of them turned to face the slender vampire and scowled.

“Who the hell are you?”

Zhuang Ying’s response was a silver bullet to his face.

--

“What?!”

“If they don’t do it now, they’ll have to do it sooner or later. Someone is bound to survive and report what happened.”

Su Hui slammed her forehead on her desk. “Didn’t I tell you to give them simple missions since two of their members only recovered three days ago? Why the hell did you send them after the Leader?” she groaned.

Chun Zi sighed. “Sacrifices must be made. If you want to track down the Leader, you must be prepared to lose some hunters.”

“She’s right.” Shu Xian shrugged. “No pain, no gain. Since Zhuang Ying’s team is specialised in exploiting the enemy’s weaknesses, they’re the best choice. Once they return, they’ll give us a detailed report on the flaws of the Leader’s army.”

Angered, the usually calm medic lost her temper and slammed her fist down on her desk. “What if they don’t make it?”

“Then we send another team.” Chun Zi replied calmly.

“What the fuck do you see them as? Pawns? Stepping stones to get to the Leader? The hunters are out there risking life and limb just to hunt her down!”

“Exactly. It’s their job. It’s all part and parcel of their jobs as hunters.” Shu Xian pushed her hair behind her ear. “They know very well that as hunters, they might just die if they aren’t careful. We should feel glad that our hunters take their jobs seriously.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” See Min hissed. “The last time I checked, the hunters are our own friends. We promised to stick together through thick and thin, no matter what.”

“If you really treat them as your friends,” Chun Zi glared at the medics. “You would believe in their abilities.”

“I do believe in theirs. I just don’t believe in yours anymore.” With that, the two medics walked out and slammed the door behind them.

Shu Xian sighed and looked out the window. Chun Zi shook her head and just buried her face in her hands.

“So much for standing by one another.”

--

Carson fixed his gaze on the road before him. Turning the black Honda into another junction, he grit his teeth as he listened to his teammates bicker in the backseat of the car.

“A date won’t kill you!”

“You suck!”

“Is that an offer?”

“Drop dead!”

“On you? My pleasure!”

“Look, will the two of you just shut up?!” Carson hollered as he glared at Larry and Evelyn through the rearview mirror. Slamming angrily on the accelerator, he spun the car into a dark alley and parked it, much to the dismay of his teammates.

“This is where we get out. If you two even say anything unrelated to this mission, I’m going to get the medics to inject you with petrol.”

Evelyn and Larry immediately kept quiet. Team 3 entered the large building, opting to climb the stairs instead of taking the lift like Team 2.

Upon reaching the third floor, they exited in silence, Evelyn shooting at any vampire that got in their way. Once they reached the end of the dimly lit corridor, all three filled their guns with rounds and kicked open the door to the Leader’s second-in-command’s office.

--

“I understand you’re pissed, but trying to suck the coffee machine dry isn’t going to work.” Valerie grumbled, her eyes following Su Hui to the coffee machine for the fourteenth time.

“I don’t know them anymore,” Su Hui snarled as she gulped down a mug of steaming hot coffee. “What made me angry is that they obviously don’t treat the hunters as friends anymore. They treat us like pawns.”

“Maybe they just have a superiority complex,” Xia Yu quipped. “You shouldn’t drink too much coffee you know. You’re going to need tons of breath mints later.”

“So be it.”

“And your tongue’s turning all black and gritty.” Valerie picked up her Beretta 92. “Was Shi Chun aware of their decision?”

“I don’t know. She wasn’t in the office.” Su Hui hissed. “I’d hate to imagine her reaction when she finds out.”

Outside Team 1’s door, aforementioned vampire overheard the whole conversation and slammed the door open.

“Shit.” Xia Yu muttered.

“They didn’t tell me.” Shi Chun spat. “They didn’t tell me a single thing. This is plain ridiculous.”

Su Hui nodded vigorously. She slammed her fist against the wall.

“This group was set up based on our friendship. As one of the founding members, I’m not going to let this slide without an explanation. I’m going to protect the vampire hunters with my life, or die trying.”

Valerie threw her gun across the room in fury.

--

Team 2 made their way cautiously down the dimly lit corridor. Shu Hui shuddered as a rat scuttled across her feet and ran a few steps ahead. Melissa slowly retrieved her Beretta 92 from its holster under her shirt and wielded it.

“Do you think we’re lost?”

“Probably. Just note down whatever you can find and commit it to your memory, okay? We’ll find a way to get out.” Zhuang Ying smiled. She took out a dagger from her jeans pocket and tensed.

Melissa’s grip on her gun tightened.

A bullet flew past Zhuang Ying and hit the end of the corridor. The slender vampire spun around and deflected several other rounds with her dagger before nodding to her other two teammates. Forcing yellow into her eyes, she sped towards the source of the bullets. Even with her senses heightened, it was hard for her to see through the darkness.

Melissa held on to her gun and leapt onto a wall, using her claws to keep herself there. She swung her arm to aim at the darkness, taking extra care not to hit Zhuang Ying, and fired at moving figures in the darkness. Shu Hui deflected incoming bullets for Melissa with a dagger and prayed for Zhuang Ying, looking the other way for bullets just in case.

The bullets stopped abruptly.

Zhuang Ying returned to her teammates with a confused look on her face. “Any bullets coming from the other end?”

“No. This is odd. Why aren’t they showing themselves?” Melissa detached herself from the wall and frowned. “I didn’t hear anyone screaming, so I couldn’t have killed them.”

As if to respond to her question, a silver bullet slammed into Zhuang Ying’s back, knocking her to the ground.

Shu Hui screamed.

The vampire had started to bleed ash from her gunshot wound and was slowly disintegrating into dust. Shoving her Desert Eagle weakly towards Melissa, Zhuang Ying’s eyes glazed over and the yellow faded.

“Run.”

Melissa froze. “No. We can’t abandon you.”

“I said, run.” Zhuang Ying insisted weakly. Her vision was starting to fade and her head throbbed.

“No, we won’t, come on, get up.” Shu Hui’s eyes welled up with tears and she shook her head. She reached over to touch Zhuang Ying’s arm and it immediately crumbled into ash. The woman scooped up the disintegrating ash and placed it in her pocket.

“Run, I’ll be fine.” A shadow of a smile tugged at the brunette’s pale lips. “They’ll get you if you don’t escape.”

She watched her teammates turn around reluctantly and sprint down the corridor with her Desert Eagle. It was fine with her anyway. She would wake up in the morning and everything would be peachy-keen, See Min would help her with her injuries and her precious handgun would be back with her. Yes, everything would be fine. She would live through this, she thought as her body fell slowly but surely to ashes.

After all, her guardian angel would protect her, wouldn’t it?

--

Team 3 made their way calmly over the pool of ash that lay around their feet, taking great care not to step on any stray ash. They didn’t like stepping on ash. To them, it was like stepping on corpses.

Once they had exited the building, Carson spotted a familiar grey Ford out the corner of his eye. He found it remotely puzzling that Team 2 hadn’t left the building yet.

Melissa and a sobbing Shu Hui promptly ran out of the building towards them. Team 1 held their breath and waited for Zhuang Ying to come out.

She didn’t.

“Zhuang Ying’s just held back, right?” Evelyn asked nervously as she tugged at Larry’s sleeve. He just closed his eyes.

“She’s gone,” Shu Hui sobbed. “She’s gone. Someone shot her, she told us to run. She’s gone.” Collapsing to the ground, the woman continued to weep. Melissa made no move to help her teammate up. She just stared blankly into the distance.

Carson nodded to Larry and both men opened the boot of the black Honda. Wordlessly, Larry extracted a power-drill and a hammer while Carson took out a fairly large box.

“What’s that?”

“You’ll see. Go get some rocks or matches.”

Larry approached the building and after scrutinising the structure, selected a large pillar. Using the hammer, he swung it against the pillar hard enough to create some rather big cracks. The vampire fixed the power-drill with a silencer and drilled a hole the size of two fists into the wall. Calmly, he did the same for three other pillars and beckoned for Carson to go over.

Carson opened the box.

Team 2 gasped. Evelyn just watched on dispassionately.

In the box were piles and piles of home-made explosives. Carson carefully linked the explosives together using some rope and placed a pair of dynamite sticks in each drilled hole. Extending the rope as much as possible, he placed the end of the string near the Honda and replaced the box of explosives in the boot.

“Get in the car.” Larry ordered and sat in the front-passenger seat, tossing his hammer and power-drill into the car. Carson followed and started the ignition.

“What?”

“Get in the car. Evelyn will finish the job.”

Melissa and Shu Hui obliged while Evelyn produced a box of matches. She lit a match and hurriedly got into the car along with them before winding down her car window. The human dropped the lit match at the end of the rope and wound up her window.

“Drive.”

Carson stepped on the accelerator and sped away quickly. Something dawned upon Shu Hui and she demanded, “What about the Ford? And what about the rest of Zhuang Ying’s” –it hurt to say it- “Ashes?”

“You have to learn to let go,” the tanned human sighed. “As for the car, fuck it.” He slammed on the accelerator and brought the meter up to 180km/h. Tires squealing, the car turned and screamed down the road.

Less than four seconds later, the dynamite exploded and the building burst into flames, collapsing just a mere 500 metres behind them.

--

“You exploded a building.” Su Hui stared.

“Err, yeah.” Evelyn smiled sheepishly.

“You exploded the Leader’s building.” Su Hui continued.

“That’s right.”

“Were there any people around except for you and her army?”

“No. We’re sure of that.”

“Well done.”

See Min just laughed and tended to any injuries the hunters might have had. Valerie noticed Shu Hui’s red eyes and went over to rub her back.

“What happened?” She asked gently.

“Zhuang Ying’s gone.” Shu Hui answered numbly. The room fell silent. She reached into her pocket and retrieved some of Zhuang Ying’s ashes. “This is all we have left of her. And her Desert Eagle.” She placed the gun in Valerie’s hands.

Quietly, Valerie put the gun away in a box and the ashes in a small urn while the hunters watched. Walking over to a high shelf, she placed the urn and box on there and closed her eyes. The hunters followed.

Rest in peace, Zhuang Ying.

Tension between the researchers and medics was heavy that night.

--End of Chapter 3—

-------------------------------------

Author's note is not present because the author is busy running from Zhuang Ying's fans.

I realised I made a huge mistake in the names of the guns D:

A .22 is a rifle, not a pistol/handgun. The plan was for the hunters to use handguns. So, I'm going to change the .22 rifles to Desert Eagle pistols.

Also, the GP 35 may be kinda confusing since the name clashes with something else. Yes, I actually went and googled it. So the GP 35 will be replaced with the Beretta 92, another handgun.

:D Peace.

Nightfall – Chapter 2.

Shi Chun pushed her fringe out of her eyes and frowned at the lab door. Beside her, Xia Yu yawned noisily and blew a raspberry.

“Is he coming or not?”

“He’d better.” The female vampire narrowed her eyes. “If not, we’re just going to ask See Min and Su Hui to settle it the old-fashioned way.”

Xia Yu swivelled on his chair and inspected the lab. He knew the place like the back of his hand. The lab was white and mostly consisted of machines that only Shu Xian, Chun Zi and Shi Chun would be able to figure out. Right smack in the centre was their latest baby, a large machine with a room capable of simulating a 3D virtual reality world, made for combat practice.

“Who’s up against him?” Melissa and Valerie barged into the lab, ready for the show that was about to start.

Shi Chun shrugged. Scowling even harder, she checked her watch.

“If he’s any later, we’ll give him special treatment.” She smirked. “Xia Yu and Carson both against him.”

“That son of a bitch will never know what hit him,” A manic look crept into Xia Yu’s eyes. “You are one evil vampire, Goh Shi Chun.”

Shi Chun reached over to the machine’s controls before smiling.

“I try.”

--

“You are going to die.”

Larry’s head snapped up. He looked at the speaker incredulously. “Come again?”

“You are going to die.” The pretty girl who had introduced herself as Chun Zi repeated her previous sentence in a bored voice.

“Why do you say that?” He picked nervously at his white tee before looking at Chun Zi straight in the eye. Fear was well-concealed in him.

“Your spirit is broken, you’re not used to being a vampire. What you are about to experience is like a test. We’ll have you fight some of us. If you beat them, you stay. If you don’t,” She shrugged. “Let’s just say you’re going to be used in the name of science.”

He shuddered. “I’m going to survive. Not only that, I’m pretty sure I’ll kick their asses.” Larry struggled to keep his voice calm. He wasn’t used to being spoken to like this.

“Bullshit. We have what you don’t. We have the power to adapt. Most of us here have vampire genes or even vampires. It’s not about whether you accept it or not, it’s about how well you adapt to your new life.” Chun Zi paused and headed for the door.

“Only the true vampires pass this test. If you can’t land a hit on us, you’ll never stand a chance against the others. Don’t ever underestimate your opponent.” She smirked and opened the door, stepping into the corridor.

“Good luck.”

Once she had closed the door, Chun Zi headed for the lab. That was pretty easy. All she needed to do was to intimidate him, scare him into losing, make him feel defeated. It was her gift of persuasion, with hypnosis thrown in.

Her job was done.

--

The vampire hunters waited with bated breath for Larry. Up on the platform, Carson and Xia Yu were chatting away like nothing was going on. To them, this was nothing but a mere exercise.

The door opened and the newest member stepped in. He swallowed and walked towards the platform.

“My, my, so anxious to start the test?” See Min laughed. Pulling out a list of rules from her pocket, she cleared her throat and announced, “The following rules are to be observed during the test. One, under no circumstances may you kill or cause serious injury to our members. Two, if you pass this test, you can choose to join us or fly solo. If you fail, you will be killed or used for experiments. Three, our members will not cause permanent damage to you, but they may kill you. If you happen to pass or end the test with a draw, you will receive medical attention and have the choice of joining us. Four, the test will end if a contestant is gravely injured or a party surrenders. Five, no weapons will be used. The test will consist entirely of hand-to-hand combat. That’s all. You may begin the test.”

Larry’s heart nearly stopped dead. Continuing his walk, he got up on the platform and assumed a fighting stance.

Xia Yu and Carson burst into laughter. Larry blinked in surprise before realising Xia Yu was just right in front of him and Carson was nowhere to be seen.

“Surprise, surprise.” The amateur vampire received a harsh kick to the stomach. Xia Yu laughed maniacally before delivering a swift kick to Larry’s head, sending the other vampire crashing to the ground. Larry swore in pain before performing a leg-sweep and sending Xia Yu flat on his ass.

“Fucker!” “Xia Yu, language!”

Using Larry’s distraction to his advantage, Carson tackled Larry from behind and slammed his elbow into the vampire’s back. The vampire howled in pain and fell to the ground in a heap. The human stood up and dusted his hands off before helping Xia Yu up.

“Well, that was beyond easy. I went really gentle on him.”

The angered amateur vampire cussed in silence before getting up and using his newfound agility. In a matter of seconds, he had run up to a distracted Carson and punched him across the face. The tanned human ran the back of his hand over his mouth and discovered blood.

Larry extended his clawed hands and held his right hand threateningly at Xia Yu’s neck, forcing the experienced vampire to freeze in his place. Using his left hand, he held a stunned Carson in a chokehold.

“I thought you weren’t supposed to underestimate your opponent.” The vampire breathed heavily as sweat trickled down his neck. He knew he was going to have to do some fighting but damn, he’d never received this much abuse before.

Both experienced members blinked in surprise before sharing a look.

“Welcome to the team.”

The vampire hunters erupted into applause.

--

“So, this is what we do. We judged your fighting style and decided you should be a hunter. Which means you will be placed into a team of 3 people and carry out tasks like hunting down vampires.” Su Hui explained.

“We have 2 complete teams so far. Team 1 consists of Xia Yu, Valerie and Su Hui. Even though Su Hui is a medic, she doubles as a hunter. Team 2 consists of Zhuang Ying, Shu Hui and Melissa. We put you into Team 3, consisting of Carson, Evelyn and you. No objections, I hope.” Shu Xian raised an eyebrow.

“The medics would consist of See Min and myself. Yes, only 2 medics, but we can cope.” Su Hui grinned. “The researchers are Shu Xian, Shi Chun and Chun Zi. I’m surprised Chun Zi didn’t discourage you enough. The last vampire we had was so scared of dying she ran out crying and never came back again. Who knows what happened to her.”

Shi Chun handed Larry a Glock. “We have 3 types of guns. Each member in a team uses a different kind. Since Carson uses a Beretta 92 and Evelyn uses a Desert Eagle, you’ll use this.” A black ankle-length coat was thrown in the new member’s face. “This is like our outfit. Whenever you go out, you wear it.”

“And you have to get a tattoo. I don’t care whether you want it or not, you have to get one.” Melissa announced as she gestured to her boyfriend, Kazu. “Kazu will tattoo your right arm. If it hurts, you can always scream.”

Larry paled as Kazu wielded his equipment. Even though the older man went easy on him and smiled to comfort the young vampire, Larry squirmed throughout the whole ordeal, as he saw it.

After the tattooing was done, the hunters gathered around and studied the hunters’ tattoo. The tattoo was an angel dressed in black with grey wings that folded around her. A gold circlet sat on her blonde hair and her eyes were closed, giving her a look of peace.

“Why an angel?” He looked curiously at his fresh accessory.

Valerie smiled. “Because it will protect you from harm and make sure you don’t die, ever. We all have one, on the right arm.” Her eyes lit up happily. “This little tattoo will be your guardian angel.”

--End of Chapter 2--

This chapter is too short and I think I wrote some peeps OOC ): Must practise moar.

I just looked through my fanfics and realised that my titles often make no sense or connection to the story itself ):

For example. Vampfic - Nightfall.
Butterfly-based - Ecstasy.
JiraiyaXTsunade - Generation.
NaruXSaku - Knowing.

--

Goodness me. I think I need to focus my thoughts more when I write.

Nightfall - Chapter 1.

The slender brunette checked her watch as she waited in the shadows. Five more minutes and her team would storm the hideout. She wondered how many injuries she would sustain this time. With a small smirk, she guessed, only a slight cut here or there.

She didn’t look fierce, neither did she look remotely dangerous. She wore black cargo pants over black sneakers and a grey sports jacket over a white tank top. Right under her jacket, a belt was worn loosely around her tank top and it housed her Desert Eagle, hidden.

Silently, she took out her pistol and filled the magazine with silver bullets coated in a new formula that Shu Xian, one of the researchers had developed. It was guaranteed to destroy the enemy upon impact and shatter them without question.

Twenty seconds.

“Zhuang Ying, you’re going in first. Take down whoever you can. We’re coming in right after you.”

Zhuang Ying replaced her Desert Eagle and grinned. “And you, Shu Hui?”

Shu Hui flipped her bangs off her face and smiled.

“Shut up, girl. I’m coming in second. 3 seconds, go stand at the door.”

Zhuang Ying obliged, inhaled deeply and kicked open the door.

Its occupants glared at her, yellow creeping into their pupils. Their skin had a bluish tint and their canines weren’t that long yet, which was good. It meant that they were caught by surprise.

Zhuang Ying flicked on the lights and fired coolly at the vampires, scattering them into showers of ash. Behind her, Shu Hui and Melissa moved in swiftly and fired at those that weren’t dead yet. Melissa smoothly kicked a vampire in the gut with her heavy combat boots, allowing her to bring him down and stomp on him to ash just for a small sense of satisfaction.

“Are they all dead yet?”

The three women turned their heads in shock. The speaker was a heavily muscled man clothed in a rumpled office shirt and pants. A thick ankle-length coat covered it all. His hair was greasy and looked it hadn’t seen a shower in years.

Zhuang Ying would hate to fight hand-to-hand with that guy.

Behind the man, Avril was on the ground with a pained expression. Her curled hair was in a mess and it looked like she had fought for a while.

Melissa noted the glazed eyes and the yellow colour creeping into them.

“Shit. They had Avril. They’ve turned her.” Melissa closed her eyes and breathed out shakily. She promptly sank to the floor and cried silently.

“It’s not too late to save her, is it?”

Zhuang Ying ignored Shu Hui and lunged at the filthy vampire with her Desert Eagle aimed and ready to fire, vowing to take down the Leader’s right-hand man once and for all.

She had had enough of him.

----

Shu Xian tapped idly at her laptop, debating whether to help Su Hui out with the medicine or just search for new vampire hideouts. Ding Ding, her white poodle lay at her feet as she mentally calculated the time Zhuang Ying’s team would return.

Two hours and they were still not back.

The unusually stoic woman adjusted her glasses as Valerie yawned and entered the room.

“Are they back yet?”

“No. It’s been two hours and 3 minutes. Usually they would get the job done within forty-five.”

Valerie yawned again sleepily and sat down on a chair nearby. Like Melissa, she slept mostly during the day but some days were exceptions. The only difference was that Melissa was a tainted vampire and she was a half-vampire.

Speaking of which, she felt her gut turning, like something bad was about to happen.

----

Su Hui watched Evelyn as she grit her teeth while her body accepted the blood. Flicking her bangs away from her face, the medic checked Evelyn’s pulse.

She wasn’t entirely normal either. Born human, her growing curiosity prompted her to inject herself with some of Valerie’s vampiric genes. Hence, she developed extremely sharp senses.

And the ability to sense whenever one of the hunters were in danger.

Evelyn swore loudly at the pain. Amused, Su Hui grinned at her.

“You’re going to die if you don’t get enough blood.”

“Bite me.”

“Sorry, I don’t swing that way.”

“This thing hurts like a bitch.” Evelyn muttered bitterly. She hated receiving transfusions. It wasn’t her fault that she needed blood with vampire DNA every week just so she could maintain her reflexes and agility.

“Let’s see, you ran into a vampire hideout and fired blindly, wasting all of your silver bullets, not to mention that you were alone. You had to turn tail and run for dear life just so you wouldn’t get your ass handed to you by a group of amateur vampires. Not only that, you ran the wrong way into an alley and had to run up the walls to escape. If that doesn’t make you eligible for a transfusion, I don’t know what else does.”

“I hate you.”

----

Shu Hui staggered into the headquarters, blood trickling from her fists as she carried a limp Zhuang Ying on her right shoulder. Behind her, Melissa trailed blankly, cheeks streaked with tears. Her carefully styled hair fell limp and her black tank top tore at the sides. Her combat boots had a few buckles missing and her black shorts were the only clothing that weren’t ruined.

“What did Zhuang Ying do?” See Min, another medic hurried out and helped the limp brunette off Shu Hui. Shu Hui wheezed and her knees buckled. Her empty Glock clattered to the ground and See Min winced at the sharp noise.

“I’m going to have to put her on sedatives first. As for you, Su Hui will figure something out. Melissa?”

Aforementioned girl mumbled something incoherent and cried again. She sank to her knees and covered her face, sobbing into her dirty palms.

“They’ve got Avril.”

See Min’s breath caught short in her throat as she tried to process her thoughts. Regaining her professional medic composure, she hoisted Zhuang Ying on her back and brought her to a bed before heading for the main office.

“I’ll tell the girls.”

----

“Get your feet off the chair!”

“No! What’s wrong with sitting like this?”

“Everything! Will it kill you to sit with both your feet on the ground for once?”

Shi Chun was close to tearing her hair out. She glared at the grinning half-vampire on her beloved chair. She sighed.

“And your dress sense. Wear something with colour, please.”

Valerie sniffled and sipped some coffee before turning to face the angry researcher. She listlessly fingered her white hooded shirt and sulked. Shi Chun’s sharp vampiric senses soon detected a rather flustered See Min about to barge into the office.

She was right.

“Team 2’s back. According to Melissa, the Leader’s turned Avril.”

Valerie’s scowl deepened. She dumped her coffee mug on the table.

“I doubt she would actually turn Avril herself. Was it that bastard of her right-hand man?” Shi Chun warily raised an eyebrow.

“Think so. Melissa’s Beretta 92 is missing, Zhuang Ying’s Desert Eagle is still with her and Shu Hui’s Glock is scarily emptied.”

Shi Chun closed her eyes and prayed for whoever had made Shu Hui use her gun.

“Shu Hui fought hand-to-hand and all their silver bullets are gone.”

“I hope he’s dead.” Valerie snarled as she kicked the table leg, making her right toe bleed ash.

See Min nodded. Wordlessly, she grabbed the angry half-vampire and dragged her to the lab. Shi Chun watched in silence before she sat down in front of her laptop and fired it up.

Time to track some vampires.

----

Zhuang Ying felt like shit.

To be exact, she felt worse than shit.

If she felt like shit, it probably meant that her last bullet missed the right-hand man and she was shot point-blank.

Shit.

Warily, she opened her eyes and stared at the white ceiling. A drip was attached to her left arm and she groaned as she did a mental calculation of her wounds.

“I would like to find out exactly why you decided to just run at the right-hand man firing at his head when it’s obviously your team’s specialty to discover the enemy’s weak points.”

Su Hui sighed and massaged her temples. Flipping through her papers, she made some notes on her clipboard and went over to the other girl lying on the hospital bed next to Zhuang Ying’s.

Zhuang Ying’s eyes widened.

On the bed lay Shu Hui, a drip also attached to her left arm. Her knuckles were heavily bandaged and she had a rather nasty bruise developing on her cheek. She waved wearily to Zhuang Ying and managed a weak smile.

“She fireman-lifted you back here all the way from the hide-out. Not only that, after you managed to wound the right-hand man, causing 30% of his injuries, she had to carry on the fight for you. She managed to cause another 40%, bringing up the total to 70%. She killed him with her bare fists.” Su Hui raised an eyebrow at Zhuang Ying.

Zhuang Ying grinned sheepishly.

“Hey hey hey, do you think Nick Jonas will come and visit me?” Shu Hui chirped happily as she stared at the medic with large shining eyes.

----

Valerie trudged listlessly through the streets, her arm stinging from where See Min had taken some ash samples. She stuffed her lightly clawed hands into her pockets and breathed in the misty air.

A vampire.

She hurriedly turned into a dark alley and forced the yellow into her eyes. Placing a hand on her hidden Beretta 92, she tensed her body and hid in the shadows. The half-vampire forced herself to be still. Her eyes widened and she forced the yellow back.

A guy no older than her was lying injured on the ground. Blood trickled from a fresh bite wound in his neck and his eyes held no signs of human life. He muttered something incoherent and Valerie winced.

“You okay?”

The guy noted her claws and tensed visibly. Yellow creeped into his eyes and his canines lengthened. Valerie smiled wordlessly and showed the man her own canines and yellow eyes.

“You’re not alone.”

The man smiled weakly in return.

----

“Who is he.” Su Hui deadpanned. She swiftly stuck a finger in the man’s general direction and scrunched up her nose. Shi Chun stared curiously at the man on the couch and noted his clawed hands.

Valerie sheepishly scratched her head. “Well, he was lying in a dark alley all alone. Someone turned him and you were the one who said we needed to help our kind in need.” She managed another nervous laugh before bracing herself for a huge rant.

“I cannot believe you let a stranger into our headquarters. What if he’s dangerous? What if he’s a spy?” Su Hui snapped and stalked towards the guy.

“Name? Age? I’m going to let you off the hook for this once. Shu Xian will lead you to the bathroom and a spare room.” The raven flicked her fringe and scowled.

The man stood up and rivalled Su Hui’s glare with one of his own. “My name is Larry, and I’m nineteen this year.”

“Fair enough.”

Shu Xian stood up and led Larry out. As soon as the office door closed, she moved smoothly and silently down the corridor. Larry squinted as he took in the surroundings.

The room was bright, too bright. It seemed like the whole room was bathed in some deadly glow. Stopping, Larry covered his eyes and winced in pain.

“Anything the matter?” Shu Xian quirked an eyebrow.

“Nothing... It’s just... too bright.”

The young human smiled. “I understand. You are a vampire, no? Vampires usually have trouble getting used to this lighting.”

“I didn’t use to be scared of light this much.”

Shu Xian ignored his statement and directed him into a room which was visibly darker than the corridor. The vampire relaxed and noticed the human beside him wielding a flashlight. To him, the room was as bright as day.

As if to answer his unspoken question, Shu Xian stated calmly as if she was merely spelling a word, “I’m using a flashlight because I’m human. Vampires are sensitive to light, but nothing will happen much except for a few rashes. You vampires are able to see in the dark but we humans are not. You will eventually get used to the light, like Shi Chun did. There are clothes in the wardrobe that might fit you. After your bath, please go to the lab.”

“Lab? What for?”

“I hope you have a high pain threshold.”

--End of Chapter 1--

Reviews would be much appreciated.

Frankly I think this chapter is crap ): I wasn't really in the mood to write it but I had so many ideas I had to evict some ideas to make room for new ones.

Shu Xian forgot her wallet today and I lent her money.

I still cannot believe she managed to pay for a $2.80 ticket with all coins.

--

Today = Chinese paper.

Was as hard as (insert deep cheem phrase here) D:

Mmm, need cookies.

Teaser: Nightfall.

Shu Hui staggered into the headquarters, blood trickling from her fists as she carried a limp Zhuang Ying on her right shoulder. Behind her, Melissa trailed blankly, cheeks streaked with tears. Her carefully styled hair fell limp and her black tank top tore at the sides. Her combat boots had a few buckles missing and her black shorts were the only clothing that weren't ruined.

"What did Zhuang Ying do?" See Min, another medic hurried out and helped the limp brunette off Shu Hui. Shu Hui wheezed and her knees buckled under her. Her empty Glock clattered to the ground and See Min winced at the sharp noise.

"I'm going to have to put her on sedatives first. As for you, Su Hui will figure something out. Melissa?"

Aforementioned girl mumbled something incoherent and cried again. She sank to her knees and covered her face, sobbing into her dirty palms.

"They've got Avril."

-------------------------------

I need to put up the first chapter and stop giving teasers, rawr.

Q) Valerie is currently going through PMS, Exam Period and Listlessness. Assuming all three states of mind are equal, form an equation and deduce what Valerie is in.

A) Let PMS be P, Exam Period be EP, Listlessness be L.
P + EP + L = x
x = Trouble.
Therefore, Valerie is in Trouble.

--

Aaaaaaaargh. I think my problem-creating skills are horrible.

I WANT A BLOODY YUKATA DAMMIT.

ALL OF YOU, I WANT A YUKATA. GET ME ONE FOR CHRISTMAS RAWR.